Nov 5, 2008 5:41 pm US/Eastern
Lamberti Enjoys Slim Lead In Broward Sheriff Race
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LAUDERHILL (CBS4) ―
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Al Lamberti (left) has defeated challenger Scott Israel in this year's race for Broward Sheriff.
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With ballots to count and one or two precincts to tally in Broward County Wednesday, Al Lamberti maintained a slim lead of 1.42 percent or 9,226 votes over Democratic challenger Scott Israel. .
Broward Election Supervisor Brenda Snipes told
CBS4 Reporter Peter D'Oench there is always the possibilty of a recount. "
We have to hit a certain percentage point," she said, "if we reach .5 percentage point difference between the two candidates, then that's a signal for an automatic recount."
One problem was that the memory drives from voting machines at four precincts were misplaced by workers. Two have been found, and Snipes said she hoped all of the votes for the race would be tabulated by Thursday.
Lamberti has been cautiously optimistic over his lead with Israel. At a picnic for retired FBI agents in Sunrise, he explained there's still a lot of unfinished business.
He said, "I think I want to prove it's not about Al Lamberti, it's all about helping the people of Broward County."
The race for Broward Sheriff was one of the biggest on the ballot in Broward County between two men with 30 years of law enforcement service.
Lamberti was appointed sheriff by Gov. Charlie Crist last year after Ken Jenne resigned amid corruption charges and it's a race that turned nasty.
The powerful position of Sheriff brings an enormous workload. The Sheriff's Office has more than 6-thousand employees and a budget of nearly $700 million. Lamberti charged Israel does not have the experience to run the agency.
Israel countered that he has experience, as police chief in North Bay Village and as a high ranking officer with Ft. Lauderdale Police.
Lamberti is the only Republican to currently hold a countywide office in Broward, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.
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